Kasing Lung

Kasing Lung (born December 31, 1972)^[7][8][9] is a Hong Kong illustrator and Pop Mart designer best known as the creator of Labubu, which he originally introduced as a character in his series The Monsters. Lung has achieved global recognition with over 300 different versions released.^{[10][11][12][clarification needed]} Inspired by folklore and Nordic myths, his work includes figurative toy designs, paintings and solo exhibitions.^[4][13]

Kasing Lung
龍家昇
"Solo exhibition: De Kleuren Monsters" Gallery by Harbour City in 2017
Born	Lung Ka Sing (1972-12-31)December 31, 1972 British Hong Kong
Nationality	Hong Kong Dutch
Education	Bachelor of Arts
Alma mater	Chung Sing School
Known for	Drawing, Illustration[1]
Notable work	Labubu[2][3] / The "Monsters" series[4]
Style	Whimsical creations with Nordic mythology
Spouse	Married (Non-public)[5]
Children	1 daughter[6]
Signature

Biography

Background

Kasing Lung was born in Hong Kong. His ancestors were indigenous inhabitants of a village in Yuen Long.^[14] In the 1960s, his parents immigrated to Utrecht, where they ran a Chinese catering business.^[15][16] Lung returned to Hong Kong, where he lived with his grandparents in Yuen Long. He studied at Chung Sing School until primary 2, learning Chinese and eventually acquiring a Hong Kong identity card.^[14][17][18] In 1978, he moved to the Netherlands with his family,^[19] but he fell behind on his school work because he didn't speak Dutch and had to return to group 1. In order to improve his Dutch, a teacher suggested that he read young adult books with illustrations (especially about Nordic folklore and mythology).^{[16][18][20][21]} He also continued practicing his Chinese by reading Jin Yong's wuxia novels.^[18][22] His mother encouraged him to watch more films, theatre plays and musicals with his siblings. Lung also became a keen collector of vinyl records by artists like Leslie Cheung, Leonard Cohen, Radiohead and The Beatles.^[18] Though he took an interest in film studies, he chose to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree that encompassed design, photography, publishing and sculpture at an art institute, not film, for financial reasons.^[21][23] Lung has stated that his upbringing influences his artistic style.^[18][24][25]

Career

After Lung graduated from the art institute in 1995, he returned to Hong Kong to become an illustrator, working with Culturecom (assistant of Oriental Heroes),^[26] an advertising agency and technology website, until 2003.^[5][14][27] Due to a SARS epidemic causing Hong Kong's economic stagnation, Lung went back to his girlfriend in Belgium. He began to engage in filmmaking and book illustration with De Eenhoorn.^[5][28] He became the first Chinese winner of the Illustration Award via "Mama is Weg" in the same year.^{[18][26][21][27][29]}

Since 2010, Lung has transitioned from an illustrator to a toy designer.^[30] He began a first collaboration with the renowned Hong Kong art toy brand How2Work in Taiwan, jointly designing a collectible series of finger puppets "a Toys foresT" and their illustrated storybooks.^[18][27][31] However, when products were not selling well within 3 years, he was given encouragement from his wife, colleague, and Howard Lee, founder of How2Work, giving up on job hunting in Belgium.^[14][18] Afterwards, Lung tried to publish a new illustration "LiTTLE PLANET NETWORK" through the Milk Magazine,^[26] also releasing his first Mandarin illustration book "My Little Planet" by Taiwan publisher. In 2014, He cooperated with award-winning children's book writer Brigitte Minne and launched their multilingual series, Lizzy Wil Danssen.^[29][32] At the same time, Lung put out Labubu’s design inspired by Nordic mythology,^[26] the popular "The Monsters" series (2015),^[15][21][27] and three fairy-themed pieces: The Story Of Puca (2015), Pato And The Girl (2016), and Milo's Requiem (2017) successively.^[29]

Because Labubu seemed successful in Taiwan markets, he decided to open up new markets in Hong Kong starting in 2017. Organizing "Solo exhibition: De Kleuren Monsters" Gallery was his initial step; secondly, he planned to show his artworks via different galleries.^{[14][17][24][25][27][33]} Two years later, Lung entered into exclusive license agreement with Pop Mart.^[15][34] They planned to extend the Labubu design across various platforms such as an official website, online marketplaces, offline stores, and advertisements, leading to the design’s widespread recognition and significant market value.^[35][36][37] Benefitting from the IP Strategy in 2024,^[38] Labubu figurines went viral among collectors and boosted collaborations across various brands.^{[21][35][39][40][41]} Lisa from the popular K-pop music group Blackpink has been seen showcasing her collection of Labubu plush toys on social media,^[34][42] sparking a worldwide surge in demand and establishing the plush as a must-have cultural icon.^{[12][43][44][45]} Lung shot to fame as well.^[46][47] He continues to maintain studios in both Belgium (Antwerp^[5]) and Hong Kong (Kwun Tong^[48]).^[18][27][49]

Works

External images
Original Labubu
Redesigned Labubu in 2019

Illustration books

• Biography portal
• Art portal
• Hong Kong portal

• My Little Planet（12 November 2013, Style, ISBN 978-986-306-120-5）
• Lizzy Wil Danssen（3 February 2014, De Eenhoorn, ISBN 978-905-838-927-5）
• Lizzy Leert Zwemmen（16 February 2015, De Eenhoorn, ISBN 978-946-291-004-1）
• Max is niet moe: Hij moet nog een hoge toren bouwen（16 February 2015, De Eenhoorn, ISBN 978-946-291-005-8）
• Lizzy Leert Fietsen（14 August 2015, De Eenhoorn, ISBN 978-946-291-041-6）
• The Story Of Puca（October 2015, How2Work, ISBN 978-986-306-120-5）^[50]
• Pato And The Girl（November 2016, How2Work）
• Milo's Requiem（November 2017, How2Work）
• The Monsters Trilogy（30 March 2019, How2Work）^[51]